How To Prepare Your Mind Mentally To Reach Your Fitness Goals

When people want to achieve a certain fitness goal, they would do it by having a healthy balanced diet and regular exercise. They’d switch their usual meals and snacks to healthier options and would enroll themselves at their local gym. This combination is probably the oldest trick in the book, but these two aren’t enough for you to reach your fitness goals. It’s important that before you start with your attempts, your mind is prepared for it. Everything that’s going on in your mind can affect your mood and behaviour, which can also create an impact with how you reach your fitness goals.

Reaching your fitness goals doesn’t happen overnight. This is a long-term process which demands your determination, willingness, and discipline. If you lack any of these, you’ll see yourself stuck or lost in the middle of the process, and all of your efforts will be useless. If you want to reach your fitness goals the right way, prepare your mind mentally first. Here’s how:

1. Write down your goals: Before searching the internet for vegetable salad recipes or home workout routines, write down all of your fitness goals first. When you have goals, everything will come easier. You’ll have an idea of the direction you’re going and how you can possibly arrive there. Your goals can be anywhere from losing or gaining weight, maintaining your current weight or having abs. You’re the person behind the wheel so have the freedom to steer it to whichever direction you like.

When writing your goals, make sure that these are actually realistic and specific. If you want to lose or gain weight, indicate how many pounds and for how many weeks you’re planning to do it. However, you should also consider that your body has its own limitations. Setting a goal where you’ll lose seven pounds in one week is not only unrealistic, but it’ll also compromise your health and wellbeing.

It’s also better if you come up with short-term and long-term goals. Losing five pounds in two weeks can be your long-term goals while your short-term goals can include walking for an hour every day, using the stairs at work or creating your own salads every weekend. These short-term goals can track your progress towards your long-term goals.

Sorting out your short-term and long-term fitness goals are beneficial for a number of reasons. First, this minimizes the possibility of failures since goals are broken down into smaller tasks which can be achieved in a day or a week. This also allows your mind and body to gradually adjust to the changes in your lifestyle, eating habits and workout routines.

Once you have your goals, write these on a piece of paper and place these in areas which are visible to you every day. This can be in your bedroom’s vanity mirror, kitchen fridge and office desk. When you’re reminded of your fitness goals all the time, you’ll be motivated to continue the journey.

2. Bring a friend or buddy: When you have a friend or buddy with you, tasks seem lighter and more achievable. The same is also true when reaching your fitness goals. If you and your friend are going to enroll in a new fitness program at your local gym, you’ll have each other to keep you accountable and motivated. Working out for long hours at the gym wouldn’t be so frustrating because you have a friend who shares the same experience. Having one around can even make all of these experiences fun and memorable too!

3. Track what you eat: What you eat and don’t eat can play a big role in the success of your attempts. Regardless of how rigorous your workout routines are, if you’re still eating junk foods and sweets all the time, all of your attempts will be worthless in the end. Aside from you writing down your goals, you should also take note of everything that you eat especially during meals.

While you’re at it, also list down food indulges that you want to avoid or stay away from. You can include candies, cakes, sodas and other snacks which you used to eat between meals. You can also place these notes in different areas in the house or office to frequently remind you of your food don’ts.

As much as possible, include fruits and vegetables in your diet. If you want variety in your meals, use the internet to search for healthy recipes which you can prepare on your own. There are many meals which contain fruits and vegetables which are not only healthy but filling as well.

Additionally, try to look for healthier alternatives for your common herbs and spices for your meals and drink. Ditch salt and sugar and use lemon zest for additional flavor. Instead of sugar, use natural honey for your coffee or tea.

A calorie counter can also be a helpful tool during this process. With a calorie counter, you’ll be able to monitor the number of calories you’ll consume on a daily or weekly basis. This information can help you plan your exercise routines better and change your diet so you can continue to enjoy your favorite foods without disrupting the progress of your fitness goals.

4. Take time to see the pros: Reaching a certain fitness goal will never come easy. There are a few bumps along the way which adds up to the challenge. You also have to think about how you can possibly sustain the motivation so you can continue working on your fitness goals. Aside from your own efforts, seeking help from professionals can make the process easier and faster. Their training and experience can help you create a mindset suitable for your fitness goals.

If you’re doing this for the first time, you might not have any idea how to come up with an effective diet or what kind of foods to avoid. Seeking help from a nutritionist or dietician can do wonders for you. Their main responsibilities include creating a health plan suitable for your needs, educating you about food and overseeing your meal preparations.

In terms of your mental state, there are many organizations which can help you out. Open Sky Psychology, for example, can provide solutions for your mental health needs so you’ll have higher chances of succeeding in your attempts.

5. Be prepared for lapses: It might sound frustrating, but lapses will always be there when you’re reaching your fitness goals. You should keep in mind that lapses happen regardless of how much you plan or try; lapses are a normal part of the process. However, experiencing lapses shouldn’t hinder you from reaching your long-term goals. Instead, you should use the experience to assess what went wrong and how you can prevent the same situation from happening again in the future. These lapses can be your learning curve to better plan your diet and exercise routines.

6. Reward yourself: Your short-term goals can be considered as your milestones and should be celebrated whenever these are met. If you were able to walk for an hour every day for two weeks, or use the stairs every time you’re at the office, go ahead and reward yourself. Doing this will keep you motivated to reach your fitness goals, and you’ll continue to work on achieving your next milestone.

However, you shouldn’t reward yourself with the things you’re actually avoiding. Rewarding yourself with a chocolate cake or skipping a session at the gym isn’t the best way to go. These will only delay your progress or worse, cause relapse.

Take A Newer, Effective Solution

There are many reasons why people failed to reach their fitness goals. They might lose the motivation somewhere during the process or felt discouraged when they’re not able to get fast results. You can steer away from this direction by making sure that you’re mentally prepared for what you’re about to get yourself into. You shouldn’t hastily act on your fitness goals the moment you want to. Instead, you should take the time to condition your mind for it. Doing this might be uncommon (since most people solely rely on diet and exercise for their fitness goals), but your mental state does have an influence on your fitness goals. Good luck achieving your fitness goals.